Former Gilbert & Tobin innovation boss raises $4 million to start up his law firm
Customer relationship management (CRM) and revenue operations software startup Nexl has raised $4 million in new capital backed by B2B-focused VC EVP in addition to follow-on funds from Vulpes and Saniel Ventures.
Nexl was founded 3.5 years ago by Philipp Thurner, who was head of innovation at leading law firm Gilbert and Tobin. The software platform helps law firms build stronger client relationships, capture key relationship data points across companies without data entry, and then continuously map all relationships and interactions between firm members, prospects, and clients.
“Relationships are everything in professional services, but the management of these relationships tends to rely on decentralized and largely disorganized communication and information sharing practices,” Thurner said.
“Management and growth teams within law firms will generally have little understanding of the strength of individual client relationships and the context behind each relationship.”
He plans to use the new money to accelerate product development, ramp up acquisition efforts in key markets and hire new employees.
Nexl now has staff across six continents and is used by more than 100 law firms in 37 countries.
Thurner said the Nexl platform is changing the way law firms connect in a deeper way than ever before to stay competitive and meet client expectations while operating in a collaborative environment.
“The legal industry is under intense pressure to evolve and thrive in a digital, hybrid and remote environment, which companies have struggled with to date,” he said.
“Nexl has positioned itself to be a partner for professional services companies in the face of this increasing pressure.”
Nexl was running in late 2020, 17 months after it launched in mid-2019, aiming to become a LinkedIn-like network for lawyers, raising $820,000 in a Seed round in December of that year. The idea failed to gain financial traction, so Thurner scrapped that idea and instead turned the underlying technology platform into an industry CRM that launched in January 2021 as Nexl 2.0.
